3rd Long COVID International Conference 2025 🧵below

In a study of 778 adults with long‑COVID (~192–197 per arm) researchers found that all three drug interventions improved quality of life scores (EQ‑5D‑5L) more than usual care by 12 weeks, although gains plateaued by 24 weeks.

UCSF researchers found no overall difference between placebo and AER002 but suggest high baseline antibodies in the placebo group may have masked effects. Future trials may focus on those with low antibody levels or use higher dosing.

UCSF researchers found that people with low baseline anti-spike antibodies were more likely to respond to AER002 when exposed to higher drug levels, with a significant PK-response relationship seen only in this group.

Alright, enough for this one. Gotta do @polybioRF's now.

University of Luxembourg researchers surveyed 198 doctors across 31 countries and found only 13% routinely ask about sexual dysfunction in Long Covid patients. Just 10% use validated tools to assess it.

At Children’s National Hospital, 3 teens with Long COVID were treated with IVIG every few weeks for 6 months. All showed symptom relief within 2 to 3 weeks and improved school attendance, despite early side effects like nausea and headaches.

University of Minnesota researchers found higher blood levels of endotrophin in people with Long COVID, even after adjusting for body weight. This protein may become a useful biomarker for identifying Long COVID.

@SalvMattera here you go dude

At UCSF, among 693 COVID-19 survivors, cytokines predicted long COVID best in obese patients. IL-6 and IL-1β drove inflammation, were reduced by GLP-1 drugs, and linked to risk. In healthy-weight people, these immune signals were weaker or absent.

University of Liège doctors used AI and imaging to find five types of biomarkers in two patients with long COVID. These include language, brain scans, gene activity, neural signals, and viral traces. The approach is expanding to 300 more patients.

Genclis researchers studied 82 people and found that in Long COVID, infectious SARS-CoV-2 can be reactivated in lab cells via a fatty acid pathway using the LSR receptor, bypassing ACE2 and evading existing antibodies.

Stanford researchers studied 123 people and found that Long COVID and ME/CFS share changes in immune cell-derived extracellular vesicles, including mitochondrial enrichment, suggesting a shared disease mechanism and potential biomarkers.

Barcelona researchers studied over 190,000 people and found that chronic antihistamine use was linked to fewer cases of Long COVID and fewer blood clots after repeated infections. No Long COVID was seen in users with three infections.

Rutgers researchers studied 3,251 kids and found that high anti-nucleocapsid antibody levels were linked to more long COVID symptoms in children aged 6 to 11 but not in teens. This points to age-specific immune responses to the virus

Sheffield Hallam University studied 39 people with Long COVID and found that those who took a daily multi-strain probiotic for 12 weeks showed significant improvements in memory, planning and gut symptoms compared to placebo

NIH researchers found that IVO-21, a new oral drug, stabilizes mitochondria and calms thromboinflammation in mice. It may safely treat the metabolic and vascular damage seen in long COVID.

At Institut Fournier in Paris, 19 long COVID patients with severe GI symptoms took maraviroc and pravastatin. After 3 months, 78% showed major improvement, linked to fewer blood microclots and less viral material in platelets

Posting a few posters that looked interesting to me now.

We haven't systemically looked at all tissues yet. We need to. 10% in liver, 10% in brain, persistence somewhere?! We need to look at the tissues. For those who know me I'm an autopsy pathologist, it's easier for me to do than for clinicians to do *audience laugh*

The virus hides in tissue, not blood like HIV. Maybe we can develop a biomarker like in bone marrow or somewhere else. Not sure if we can do a biomarker for that. It will end up with combination, not just virus. Strongest signal in tissues. Virus persists in organs across body.